Equipment means nothing. If you can't use it, don't bother buying it. If you want to go hunting down vampires, you need to train. Why do you think I've trained every Helsing child in some form or another ever since Abraham decided to take this lost dog in? Sword fighting, martial arts, gunplay, thousand-man army tactics, one-man army tactics, stealth, skills are the only thing that will save you, so I gave them everything I had. You can lose equipment, and you can have the best equipment in the world and still get raped by a honey badger if you're not careful. You want to fight? Don't buy a good sword 'til you know how to use a shitty one. That means you, Richard, you shitcock! Learn your fucking guards, dumbass!
-excerpt from the Vampire Journals
Chapter 11: Denying the Past
The exterior of the bar was drenched in darkness. The sun had slipped beyond the horizon roughly three hours ago, and a full moon was just beginning to creep up behind it, throwing pale colors all over the otherwise normal looking establishment. An almost ominous feeling began to weave its way through the group of men and vampires who waited by the front door, especially when their leader, the tall man in red, couldn't seem to move forward any more.
Seras placed a hand gently on Alucard's shoulder, saying, "It's ok, Master. We can leave if you want to."
That drew strange glances from the Mercs, but Alucard didn't notice, his gaze fixed upon the door. He drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
"Integra's right", he replied. "Time to put a stop to this."
Seras nodded.
"Maybe me and the Mercenaries can go in first, and then you can come in after us?"
"Good idea", Alucard agreed... far too quickly for Pip's liking. "She's probably watching the door. She might bolt if she sees me."
Alucard reached down to his left hip, and withdrew his sword, and passed it to Seras. Seras held her hands up. She didn't know the first thing about swords, and she was smart enough to know that if you don't know it, you don't use it in a life-and-death situation.
"I don't want you to shoot her", Alucard told Seras. "If you have to pull this out, she might surrender when she sees it."
Seras hesitated for a moment more.
"Where am I supposed to put this?"
"Prison wallet", Alucard replied nonchalantly.
"Dude, what the fuck", one of the Americans, the mid-westerner, asked in disgust.
"I fucked your sister", Alucard responded without so much as a turn of the head.
"Seriously", Seras asked.
"Well", Alucard thought. "Just tuck it into a pant leg or something for now. That's totally not sword-safety, but whatever. It's not like we're doing HEMA."
"What's HEMA?"
"I have neither the time, nor the patience, to explain any of that shit. Just take the sword."
Seras smirked, unable to resist saying, "Anything for a man in love."
Alucard scowled, and some curious glances were directed from the Mercs. To avoid any further verbal lashings, Seras carefully reached out, grabbing the sword by the handle. She quickly pulled it to her, examining it for herself. Ignoring a grunt from Alucard, she took note of the intricate carvings on the blade. They didn't look like a random pattern; they seemed like every line was carved carefully in line with the next, in order to give each character its own specific meaning.
It wasn't any language she recognized, and she had seen a lot of them as a police officer; Japanese and Chinese Kanji, Ancient Gaelic, even Ancient Samarian once when they had responded to a call about someone sacrificing their own son to the Devil. But this was unlike any of those.
And yet, it was strangely familiar... it seemed to flow through her open eyes and into her mind... if she were to open her mouth, she could speak it easily-
"What the hell, Police Girl", Alucard grunted.
Turning her eyes back to him, Seras noticed that her Master's hand had a deep gash right through the palm. It didn't take a genius to figure out where it had come from.
"Oh my god", She yelled, "I'm so sorry!"
"Situational awareness, Police Girl", Alucard chastised.
"You need a bandage", Post Malone asked.
"Nope", Alucard said, using dark power to stitch himself together. "I brought my own."
The wound in his hand closed quickly. He flexed his hand to work out the stiffness, and then returned it to his side.
Frankly, even in Seras' opinion, that should have been enough indication to Alucard that giving Seras his sword had been a mistake. Had he been thinking straight, he might have plucked it from her hands, replaced it to the rift, and led the operation like a man. But he wasn't thinking straight. He was thinking about Anna.
"Alright, you guys go on in", Alucard told the group. "I'll follow in a moment."
The Mercs shared a quick glance with one another, followed by quick nods. Then they all began congregating around Seras, working themselves into a shielding screen. Seras, confused, glanced over at Pip.
"You're not tucking that into your waistband", Pip said with a smirk. "Just keep it low. We'll take care of the rest."
Seras thought about it for a moment. Pip was right; despite what Master had said, this sword was far too long and rigid to be hidden effectively in her pant leg. She needed additional input, and support, and Pip had just given her both.
"Thank you", She told Pip.
He tipped his hat in response.
"Alright, here's how we'll run this", the Californian said. "Six-gun, you're on door detail. I'll come in first, Pest will come in last, and Police Girl and Pip will play the couple."
Pip groaned.
"Best thing to hide that blade is a body, sir, and let's be fair, you've been hittin' the baguettes a lot recently."
"Yeah, yeah", Pip said, waving a hand in dismissal.
He walked up to Seras, and held his arm out at an angle, resembling a hook. Tentatively, Seras hooked her own arm through his. They squeezed in tighter together, and almost immediately, Seras began to blush. She hadn't been in contact with someone like this since her days at the orphanage, when she had met another little boy, and, in the way that children sometimes did, decided to get "married". Back then it had been innocent, pure, unadulterated and childlike love, and now those feelings came rushing back to her. For a moment, she wondered if this was how Master had felt when he had met Anna.
She tried to turn her head and breath calmly, but the Californian tapped her on the shoulder, giving her a wicked grin.
"No, no, keep the blush", he told her. "It really sells it!"
"Ah, fuck off, Cali Swag", Pip said dismissively. "Let's just get this over with, huh?"
"R-right", Seras said, cursing herself for stuttering.
She put the sword through a loop in her pants, the blade protruding behind Pip's legs, but not enough to be noticeable. The handle fit snug behind her back. it would be an awkward draw if she needed it quickly, but this was Master's idea, not hers.
The group advanced on the rather upscale bar, Post Malone... Six-gun... making his way to the front of the group, and pushing the door open in front of them, inviting them in with a gesture. The Californian... Cali Swag... walked through first, tipping an imaginary hat to the southerner. He extended the middle finger of the hand at his side. Next came Pip and Seras. She did her best to sell it, even giving him a soft, "Thank you". Pip gave him a small sideways smile. The mid-westerner... Pest... came in last, raising an eyebrow at Six-gun. He received the same finger that Cali Swag had gotten. As soon as the group moved through the door, Six-gun closed it behind them, and followed them to a table in the middle of the room.
The place was crowded, full of lively, jubilant people, waitresses taking orders, and trashy rock music emanating from a modern-looking jukebox.
When they had all taken their seats, Pip across from Seras, and the other men taking seats with drunk customers nearby, Seras began searching the room. From her sitting position, at the tables, at least, she couldn't see any women who looked particularly suspicious.
She swept the room with her eyes again, this time falling on Pip. Immediately, the color began returning to her face. The way Pip was situated, it almost seemed to Seras as if she were on her first date. He sold it quite well, occasionally looking up from his menu to take quick glances at Seras, a confident and lively smile on his face each time.
She quickly looked away, her gaze unwittingly falling on a collective of people by the bar. There was one burly man that caught her attention initially, almost as if he simply carried a bad aura, and as Seras opened her nostrils for another breath, she caught that horrid stench of festering wet dog.
She cringed inwardly, and averted her gaze from his back... and froze completely. Sitting to the werewolf's left was a woman, who had an untouched glass beer mug on the counter in front of her, with striking reddish gold hair. Her beautiful crystal blue eyes had been dulled with death and hatred, and her mouth was tucked into an almost permanent frown, but there was no mistaking it. She was staring at the woman she had seen in the vision.
And, she suspected, Anna Valarious.
Her stomach twisted into knots, and heat began to build in her loins, frothing up to her cheeks. She had never felt this way about anyone, ever, and she suspected that she may be attracted to her in a sexual way. More than likely, her brain was associating the feelings that not-Gideon had felt for her with her own desires. It was incredibly uncomfortable.
Speaking of uncomfortable, Anna was now looking right at her, an eyebrow raising above her eyes.
Seras had been taught how to tail people in the Force, and the first thing she had been told was to never be the first to look away. Generally, the preferred method of officers was to begin picking their nose. That way, whoever you were looking at would just assume that you were some jerk picking your nose and ignore you. However, Seras didn't think she could bring herself to shove one of her leather gloves into her nostrils, so instead, she bunched her mouth up into an obnoxious smile, and gently waved her hand. Generally, if you smiled at someone, they had a hard time believing that you had bad intentions for them.
Anna scoffed, and looked away, unmoved. Seras mentally breathed a sigh of relief. That could have been a complete disaster. Speaking of disasters, what was Anna wearing? Tactical cargo pants that looked like they had been rubbed raw in some places by a holster, and a long-sleeved black shirt? What a terrible outfit! Although, the cargo pants did accentuate her hips rather nicely...
Seras shook her head, and quickly returned her attention to Pip. She had to tell him about Anna, but how was she going to do that without giving herself away?
The answer that came to her almost made her slap her palm into her forehead.
She leaned in close to Pip, shielding her mouth with a hand, and said, in a much louder voice than someone who should be whispering, "Get a load of that woman's outfit! She looks like she stumbled out of a homeless shelter!"
Pip casually glanced over at Anna, in time to see Anna turn a gaze on him. He grinned maliciously, and returned his look to Seras. The look in his eyes was a knowing one, but Seras didn't allow herself to look relieved.
"Do you think she went out in public like that on purpose", he asked rather loudly.
"Pip, be nice", she said in mock disbelief.
Out of the corner of her eye, Seras could see Anna frown, and shake her head, returning her gaze to sweeping across the open room.
She glanced over at the Jukebox, and to her surprise, her Master was hovering around it, intently staring at the selections. After a moment, he pushed his finger down on a button, and the machine began whirring. He turned to face Anna, his angle placing him at her back.
"I don't want to set the world on fire..."
He took a deep breath, and began moving towards her.
"I just want to start..."
He walked right up to her backside.
"A flame in your heart..."
He put a hand on her shoulder.
To Anna's credit, she didn't even look surprised. If anything, she looked annoyed. She glanced over her shoulder, and huffed.
"Hello, Alucard."
"Anna."
"I haven't seen you since the Great War."
"So", Alucard hesitated, "long time, no see?"
Anna stayed quiet for a moment. She turned her gaze away with a hiss. Coincidentally, the man who smelled of wet dog next to her stood up and walked away.
"I suppose so", she said. she waved a hand at the now empty chair, saying, "Sit down."
Alucard knew that he most definitely should not sit down. Every instinct was screaming at him that this was a trap. Yet, the music was beginning to get to him.
"I've lost all ambition of worldly acclaim..."
He took his seat on the little stool, carefully distributing his weight so that he could shoot right off the chair if need be.
"I just wanna be the one you love..."
"So", Anna began, fiddling with her mug, "you're here for a reason, I presume."
"I'd certainly think so", Alucard said, trying to wave his hand to get the bartender's attention. "Frankly, I'm pretty sure that you're hanging around furfags for a reason, too."
"You haven't lost that foulness in your mouth, I see", Anna remarked in contempt, wrinkling her nose.
"I call it like I see it", Alucard replied bluntly. "To me, werewolves look like furfags. And you look like you're trying to change the subject."
"I won't tell you anything unless you tell me something first", Anna told him sharply. "It is a man's job to begin conversing with a woman."
"Technically, I did say, 'long time no see'", Alucard reminded her. "Also, I'll just ignore the fact that you left 'gentle' out of 'gentleman'."
"Now, we have a fool fooling themselves into believing they can fool others as much as they fool themselves", Anna said. As Alucard tried to navigate that tongue-tied minefield, Anna continued, "You are no 'gentleman', Alucard. You're hardly a man."
Alucard stretched his hand out across the bar, saying, "I don't think I need to remind you that you're really in no position to judge the humanity of-"
A knife, the blade infused with blessed silver, smashed into the top of his left hand, pinning him to the bar, and burning through his pierced skin.
"Fuckballs", Alucard cursed, finishing the phrase just as Anna's beer mug was smashed into his face.
In his dazed state, he missed Anna sprinting off towards the back door. But he definitely noticed when the burly werewolf that had left a moment ago grabbed him by the back of his head, and slammed him full-force into the bar. Through that haze, he sensed Police Girl sprint for the backdoor as well, and he allowed himself a long grin.
He heard the sluff of a metal blade being pulled from a sheath, and he took this time to reach out with his legs, hooking them behind one of the werewolf's. The action stumbled him, getting him close enough for Alucard to reach out and grab him by the throat. He pushed him up underneath him, forcing his weight on top of him, and let go of his neck, yanking a .454 from its holster, and pushing the barrel straight up to the werewolf's forehead.
He pulled the trigger in a smooth motion, splattering brain matter all over the laminate wood furniture. The creature managed to hold a startled look on its face, despite the matter leaking out of its head.
"Down, bitch", Alucard shouted.
As the creature began to slide down the bar, crumpling into a heap on the ground, the screams began sounding in the establishment. People hid under tables as Alucard was finally able to pry his hand up from the bar, taking the knife with it. He replaced the .454 to its holster, and yanked the knife out of the wound by the handle.
He had impeccable timing. As the blade left his skin and the burning began to subside, the door to the men's bathroom burst open, and a large man who stank of wet dog stood in the doorway, wearing black body armor, and cradling a heavily modified AKM. Alucard, on reflex, threw the knife at the werewolf. It pierced the Kevlar armor, sinking deeply into his chest. He never even got the chance to fire his rifle.
Thinking quickly to eliminate a potential threat, the Mercs, who all had their weapons out and trained, unloaded their cartridges into the hapless creature, sending his body jerking and twisting like he was having a seizure. Alucard, never one to miss out on fun, drew his own pistol, and fired five separate shots that eventually decapitated the man-monster. His lifeless body sunk to the ground, and the fight was over.
"Yaw, slice", Alucard called out to the nearest Merc, "quick bounce with the slippers, dawg!"
He sprinted for the backdoor, hoping he would be in time to save his fledgling apprentice. A confused batch of Mercs quickly followed, not ones to wish for an extended trip to the slammer.
...
Seras followed closely behind the beautiful woman, fumbling with the sword that was looped through her pants. The woman ran with a deft grace that made her seem more like she was skating on an ice rink before grand old judges, than running through a stinky, trash-covered alleyway. She avoided mystery bags with graceful leaps and quick dodges, making Seras think that she was a poacher chasing after an out of season doe.
Seras jumped over a group of trash bags, still surprising herself with how easy the action was. She was so much stronger, bounds more agile, and incredibly more powerful than she had ever been as a mortal girl. She felt like she finally had the advantage over the world that she needed, and yet, she couldn't help but to think about what it might ultimately cost her.
Her thoughts were pushed aside as Anna came to a quick halt. In front of her, the alleyway terminated in a brick wall. To her immediate right was a dumpster. The lid was propped slightly open, and something was sticking out of it. Anna didn't turn to look at Seras as she too came screeching to a halt.
She extended the sword in her right hand, pointing the tip at Anna, and shouted, "Surrender, Anna Valarious! You have nowhere else to run!"
Anna glanced over her shoulder, fixing Seras with a glare from her one eye. Seras' legs turned to jelly, and her throat dried up. The heat returned to her loins.
Anna stared at her, drawing her eye up and down Seras slowly, taking in every minute detail about her. Seras' own eyes began to wonder as well, taking in Anna's figure in a much less cold and calculating sense.
"Not you", Anna finally said, in a thick Romanian accent that melted Seras' heart.
"S-sorry?"
"It wasn't supposed to be you who followed me, unlucky girl."
After she said this, she reached out her right arm, and grabbed the thing that was protruding from the dumpster. She slowly pulled on it, and it in turn slowly worked itself from its sheath, hidden by the lid, revealing itself under the moonlight.
As the blade continued to reveal its massive length, Seras observed in absolute awe. She didn't know the first thing about swords, and this sword didn't look particularly fancy, but she could tell that time, effort, and faith had gone into this sword in equal measure. Even the dull moonlight glinted off of its form, giving it a brief radiance that seemed to affect a silver glow from the blade. At its full protrusion, the length of the blade was a full meter long, more than half as tall as Anna. It looked massive next to her figure... and it made her look all the more imposing, as she turned to face Seras, with the sword at her side.
"There are only two who have ever bested me", Anna continued, bringing the blade up into an upper guard position. "Alucard was one of them. Defeating him was my goal tonight."
The sword was held firmly above the left side of her head, the blade pointed downwards, towards Seras' chest. A scowl crossed Anna's face, as she took an offensive step forward. Seras, uncertain of what she had gotten herself into, took a cautious step back.
"You", Anna said with a sneer, "are just collateral damage."
Anna swept the sword around, aiming for a chest high strike. Seras, on reflex, brought her sword in a lateral line of defense, facing the blade towards the offending attacker. It clanged as metal met metal, and repelled the attack. For a moment, Seras was so caught up in the fact the she wasn't dead that she almost missed the strike aiming for her head. She ducked quickly, and, almost reflexively, shot up with a strike aimed at Anna's neck. Anna didn't even change her expression, deftly moving so that the sword barely missed her, following the blade with her eyes. She brought her own sword up underneath Seras's hands, barely missing her fingers, and loosening her grip enough to throw the sword from her hands.
The sword flew from her, exiting her vision behind her. Seras' next sight was of Anna's sword slicing up towards her exposed chest. Terrified, Seras stood frozen, unsure of what to do, and how to act.
The clang of metal was the only vision she received as her sight was blocked by Alucard sliding in front of her at inhuman speeds. Anna slid back, dust pushed up from her boot heels, until she came to rest with her back against the dead end wall. She tipped her head up to see her newest challenger, setting her face for combat.
Alucard stood to his full height, his sword sitting lazily at his side, his wicked grin covering his face in sharp, glistening teeth. Seras thought that the grin looked particularly forced.
"Oh, Anna, my Anna", Alucard said. "Once again, we meet on the field of combat. Once again, we find you on the wrong side of the battlefield."
Anna had herself pulled up into an overhead guard position, this time situated on the left side of her head.
Seras decided that this was a good time to start making herself scarce. She began taking tentative steps back, not wanting to draw attention to herself.
"And once again", Anna said, "we find ourselves determining the victor by the power of the sword."
"Really", Alucard asked, in an exacerbated tone. "No justifications for why you're hanging out with furfags in what I can only assume is an orgy den?"
"I do not need to justify myself to you", Anna sneered.
"Hey, here's a good idea; let's join the B.E.F post Turning! That'll turn out good! They definitely won't have any ambitions past an obscure goal that may or may not even be achievable considering the goal is to kill a powerful vampire who may or may not even be alive?!"
"Dracula is alive", Anna shouted, rage coursing through her so hard that she began shaking, "and I must destroy him! For my family's sake!"
"Oh, that dumbass thing with your 'family'. Give them a rest, will ya?!"
Anna screamed at the top of her lungs, her face contorted into that of rage, and charged at Alucard, slashing her sword downwards. Alurcard easily blocked the attack, and reached his sword around behind Anna's back, forcing her to readjust her guard for a quick deflection. She shoved the sword off of her guard, and pirouetted with the action, reversing the movement Alucard had done to expose Alucard's own backside.
Surprisingly, Alucard went with the motion, spinning so that his back seemed exposed. Anna took her opportunity, slashing down at the exposed back, but Alucard reversed his grip behind his back, flourishing the blade around to deflect the attack, and spinning his grip and the rest of his body around to lay a heavy strike at Anna's side. She brought her guard back in to deflect the strike, sending sparks flying in every direction.
Anna now had her back to a clear opening for escape, and Alucard had his own back towards the dead end of the alleyway. Clearly, the only direction Alucard had was forward, and that's where he went. Anna crouched, and made an upward slash, aiming for Alucard's abdomen. Instead of blocking, Alucard jumped, cartwheeling slowly through the air, and slashing downward at Anna's head. She brought her sword up barely in time, unable to make her guard position rigid, the hard strike stumbling her.
Alucard landed on his feet, curling up like a spring, and sprinting forward, slashing across the chest. Anna twirled, bringing her sword up, but once again, unable to make her guard rigid in time. The sword flew from her hands, clattering off the wall to her left.
Alucard's Magyar was inches from Anna's throat an instant later.
"Give it up, Anna", Alucard said coolly. "I'll open you up if I have to."
Anna stared down Alucard, defiance her defining feature. Her crystal blue eyes stared into striking red ones with the sharpness of a delicately cared for treasure sword. Red eyes returned the sharpness, with barely contained fire in their structure.
Slowly, Anna raised her hands up, showing Alucard her open palms.
Alucard almost seemed relieved to Seras. Especially so when the Mercenaries came running up the alleyway behind them, their boots clattering on the ground, dashing trash away with swift kicks. All of them fanned out to cover the mouth of the alleyway, leveling their arms and making escape impossible.
"Cuff her", Alucard said, to no one in particular.
Six-gun was the first one to move forward, carrying a pair of silver-plated cuffs. Alucard grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks. He turned a curious eye in return.
"Not those", Alucard told him. "Use the regular ones."
Six-gun raised an eyebrow at that, but he quickly replaced the silver-plated cuffs to his jacket pocket without another word, producing a police-issue pair instead. He advanced on her hesitantly, grabbing one of her wrists, and jerking it around behind her back. She offered no resistance, allowing herself to be shackled, refusing to break eye contact with Alucard all the while.
"Alright", Alucard said, as Six-gun trained his weapon and began backing up to fill the gap, "why don't we start with an explanation?"
"You know why", Anna sneered.
"Of course I know why", Alucard said. "I'm just trying to start with something easy."
"You just want me to give up my crusade", she countered. "You just want to see me suffer!"
"No I don't", Alucard said defensively. "I want you to give this up before you get killed!"
"And waste your time?!"
"I wasn't going to say that out loud, but essentially, yes."
"I see through you, little man", Anna said, sparing a moment to glance up and down him. "You claim to be hunting vampires, but you won't say why. You do glorious work, but you wear blasphemies."
As she said this, she glanced down at his gloves.
"You're a wolf in sheep's clothing, Alucard, and the only one you're fooling otherwise is yourself."
"We're not talking about me, here", Alucard told her, dropping his tone. "What about you? You claim to be fighting to get your family to Heaven, but here you are, frolicking with werewolves like you're in a pet shelter! Do you remember what happened to your brother? Because I do! You won't get them to Heaven if you're in a wolf's belly!"
Anna hissed, taking a step back.
"Oh, I'm not done", Alucard said, power returning to his voice. "You claim to be your own warrior, but you're just being used like a puppet! Remember the B.E.F? They saw your skill and thought you could beat me! They didn't give a shit about Dracula! No one does! He's dead!"
"HE'S NOT DEAD", Anna roared. "I know he's not dead!"
"And how do you know that, huh?! What makes you so certain?!"
"I just", Anna began, gritting her teeth... which Seras could only now see didn't contain any large canines in their ranks... and fell silent.
"Want to know how I know he's dead", Alucard asked her.
Her head snapped up, fixing him with a cautious, if accusing glare.
Alucard struck a pose, his grin growing wider across his face.
"Because you're looking at the man who killed him."